Should I use ARIA roles and a Skip Nav link?

Question

I'm wrapping up a corporate "shop window" site and am planning to use ARIA landmark roles to make it more accessible.

How supported are ARIA roles and should I have my standard "Skip Nav" link too, or will this just confuse the screen reader?

Thanks!

Answer 1

How supported are ARIA roles?

WAI ARIA roles are best supprted by NVDA, JAWS, and VoiceOver. Window-Eyes has varying degrees of support[1], [2].

should I have my standard "Skip Nav" link too, or will this just confuse the screen reader?

Skip links are beneficial to people who cannot use the mouse due to mobility impairments or just preference. At this time, the ability to jump around or navigate via keyboard and ARIA is not possible. Including them still is a good practice.

Answer 2

Although the WAI-ARIA Practices are quite vague on that topic, implementing a skip link (with proper HTML5 semantics + role attributes) still makes sense for keyboard users and will provide the best possible experience for as many users as possible.

To cite Paciello Group's excellent article, probably there will be major browser support of role attributes. See also referencing bug in Bugzilla.

Answer 3

I've always used roles, but have only been able to test using OSXs Voice Over. That works with roles, though legacy software might not know what to do.

Personally, I think roles are enough if used correctly.